1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drag mechanism of a spinning reel, and more particularly to a drag mechanism of the above type including friction discs disposed at a forward position of a spool of the reel for applying a frictional braking force against relative rotation between the spool and a spool shaft and an adjuster member screw-engaged with a front end of the spool shaft for adjusting a pressing force to be applied to the friction discs.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional drag mechanism of a spinning reel of the above-described type is known from e.g. a Japanese laid-open utility model gazette No. 63-68773. In this mechanism, the friction discs are bound between the spool and a metal plate; and the adjustment of the braking force of the drag mechanism is effected through a variation in the pressing force applied against the metal plate. Further, intrusion of foreign substance such as water is prevented through contact between a front face of the spool and an elastic seal having a rib fitted about an outer periphery of the metal plate.
The above-described conventional reel uses an elastic seal having a relatively large diameter; and therefore, the contacting length between the seal rib and the front face of the spool tends to be long as well. For this reason, compared with a construction using an elastic seal of a smaller diameter, the above construction is disadvantageous and is vulnerable to intrusion of water and also for a rotational speed, i.e. peripheral velocity of the spool being relatively high at its rib-contacting portion. Moreover, because of the large relative rotation amount, it is difficult to set the braking force of the drag mechanism at a small value without sacrificing the effect of the braking force.
On the other hand, with the above-described conventional reel, the friction discs are placed into direct contact with the front face of the spool. Therefore, it is difficult also to obtain e.g. a large braking force, because this requires a member having a greater friction coefficient to be affixed to the front face of the spool. In short, it is difficult for the conventional construction to obtain an appropriate amount of braking force.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved drag mechanism of a spinning reel through rational construction of the mechanism, the improvement enabling the mechanism to constantly provide an appropriate amount of braking force even after an extended period of time without any deterioration of sealing effect.